MINGORA: The local power and gas consumers complained against the faulty bill distribution system here on Wednesday, saying the utility bills were not delivered to them at their homes.
The distributors left the utility bills of a locality either at a mosque or in a shop, said the residents of Amankot, Chinar Colony, Faizaabad, Saidu Sharif, Shagai, College Colony, Afsarabad, Mingora, Rang Mohallah, Qambar, Rahimabad and several other areas.
“Both the gas and electricity bills are left at our village mosque where people go and collect them but several times bills are lost or torn, creating problems for people,” said Hassan Chattan, a resident of Saidu Sharif.
Ikram Khan, a resident of Amankot, said that he was a shopkeeper in Mingora Bazaar where he went in the morning and came back home in the night. “So I don’t have time to go to the shop where the bills are left,” he added.
The women, whose male family members are abroad or in other cities, said that they could not go to the mosque or shop to collect the utility bills.
“I always ask my neighbours to fetch our gas and electricity bills from the mosque as I have no son and my husband is in Saudi Arabia. Sometimes I forget to ask the neighbours to bring my bills so I have to pay fine next month,” said a woman in Faizabad.
Some consumers said that their bills were sent later than the due date of payment. “The bill distributors often deliver our electricity bills late and we have to pay fine. If we complain against it, nobody listens to us,” said Niaz Ahmad Khan, a resident of Shahdara Watkey area.
He also blamed the meter readers for not taking correct readings.
An official, when contacted, said that for over 40,000 consumers they had only five bill distributors. It was impossible for them to deliver the bills to each consumer at his home, he added.
“We have specified shops or mosques in each village or mohallah where we put the bills and consumers collect them. Our staff monitors the area and keeps check on it regularly to make sure every consumer gets his bill,” he said.
The official added that for 40,000 consumers at least 22 bill distributors were required to deliver the bills to each and every house.
